Researchers at Berkeley Lab's 88-Inch Cyclotron successfully made superheavy element 116 using a beam of titanium-50. That milestone sets the team up to attempt making the heaviest element yet: 120.
A new model of quantum interactions now suggests some of the lightest particles in the Universe might play a critical role in how at least some heavy elements form.
The creation of any heavier elements would consume energy instead of releasing it. In order to explain the presence of these heavier elements today, it's necessary to find phenomena that can produce them.
